Random Ruminations of a Beader

A blog about the joys of making bead jewelry, working from home, selling online,

Monday, July 23, 2007

Ancient Bead Bling

I have been following these stories with great interest:

Even the very first modern humans may have spruced themselves up with beaded bling.

Twelve shell beads discovered in a cave in eastern Morocco have been dated at more than 80,000 years old, making them one of the earliest examples of human culture. The beads are colored with red ochre and show signs of being strung together.

Similar beads have been found in other parts of Africa and the Middle East, suggesting the first Homo sapiens literally carried their penchant for baubles with them as they populated the world.

"If you draw a triangle covering the three furthest known locations of Homo sapiens between 75,000-120,000 years ago, that triangle stretches from South Africa to Morocco to Israel," said study co-author Chris Stringer of London's Natural History Museum.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Tag - You are it!

Social bookmarking, or tagging is hot these days. The idea of having your favorite bookmarks online, where others can see them and explore them, has been around for a while. Recently, though, there has been a veritable flood of new tagging services. You can find a long (but probably incomplete) list here.I have played around with some of the tagging sites (probably didn't put enough time in, though) and found them of little help. I prefer more targeted services such as StyleHive or Squidoo.